Sash-fastener



UNITED STATES OFFIC.

J'. B. WITHERLE, OF UPTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SASI-I-FASTENER.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN B. WITHERLE,

'of Upton, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Sash Holders or Fasteners; and I do hereby declare the same is fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure l, is a front view of a railway car window sash and its frame with my improvement applied thereto. Fig. 2, is a longitudinal section of the same.

My invention is peculiarly applicable to small sashes, such as are employed in carriages and especially in railway cars. It Vis well known that owing to the effects of moisture, a difficulty is often experienced in raising a sash, as during damp weather, the sash or its frame will swell and of lcourse, the sash will be liable to bind in its grooves. Furthermore, when a sash holder made so as to maintain the sash at any desirable elevation is applied in one of the vertical or side sash bars and has its bearing knob projecting therefrom the sash cannot be raised to advantage by pressure exerted against the knob, for such pressure will cause the sash to tip so as to bear at opposite corners in its frame and so as to materially increase the friction of it in its grooves, in which case, a knob would be required at the middle of the sash and to be separate from the sash holder.

l.Vith my invention or arrangement the knob, by the aid of which the window sash may be operated or elevated or depressed, is placed at the middle of the lower bar of the sash and makes part of the sash holder. Its

arrangement at the middle of the sash bar prevents the sash from tipping out of a vertical position, while being either elevated or depressed.

In the drawings, A denotes the sash and B, the frame in which it plays, such having its sides furnished with grooves a, a, for the reception of the sash. One of these groo-ves has a rack formed and arranged in it as shown in Fig. 2.

lVithin a recess or chamber c, made in the lower bar of the sash, a bent lever d, is arranged, and so as to extend from the middle to or nearly to the end of the said bar. This lever works on a fulcrum pin e, and has a knob f, fixed to its rear end. The shank of the knob passes through a` slot g, formed in the sash bar and leading into the chamber 0. At the outer end of the lever is a pawl or catch g, which is hinged to the lever and is pressed outward or toward the rack by a spring, it, extending from the lever. A spring' z', is fastened to the top of the lever and is arranged within the chamber c, as shown in F ig. 2. Furthermore, a retractor or metallic plate, 76, is fastened to the edge of the sash in the position with respect to the pawl as shown in Fig. 2, that is, so that when the knob is pressed downward so as to raise the pawl, the latter will be borne against the lower end of the retractor and by it forced backward entirely beyond the rack or out of engagement with it and so as to allow the window sash to move downward under the pressure exerted on the knob.

`When the knob is forced upward by the hand of a person, the sash will rise as the pawl will slip over the teeth of the rack, they being formed and arranged as shown in Fig. 2, but the pawl and the rack so long` as there is no downward pressure exerted on the knob will prevent the sash from descending.

By pressing the knob upward the sash v may be elevated. By pressing the knob downward the sash may be depressed. A spring` Z, aiiixed to the opposite edge of the sash serves to keep the sash steady and prevents its rattling in the grooves.

I claim- The combination and arrangement of the retractor 7c, the pawl or catch g', the spring L., and the lever cl, applied in the window sash and in relation to the rack b, of the sash frame as specified.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my signature.

JOHN B. WITHERLE.

Witnesses C. K. STODDARD, C. R. HALL. 

